We’ve got our first new Season 4 Premium Skins available in Fortnite: Battle Royale, and while it’s not a total surprise – the Liteshow and Nitelite skins leaked a few days ago along with a bunch of other skins — it’s still a slick little piece of cosmetic microtransaction. I’m a fan: the skins are an obvious raver/club kid concept, a perfect match for the new nightclub at the factory in the south of the map. The base of the skins are all black, with neon-glowing decorations strapped on top: Liteshow is the male version, Nitelite is the female version. Nitelite comes with some purple shutter shades, Liteshow with a goatee and big yellow X’s on his shades.
There is the argument to be made that those glowing bits constitute a bit of a gameplay disadvantage, similar to the way the orange lights on the Dark Voyager skin have a way of making a player stand out. But I’d argue that such ideas are overblown and really only limited to that dark area beneath the big crypt in Haunted Hills. Pretty much every skin stands out so much against the simple, stylized backdrops of Fortnite that a few lights here and there really don’t make such a difference.
Also, maybe standing out is a bonus in your mind: more action means more kills for the experienced players. If you’re ready to take all comers, go ahead and do it.
The skins cost 800-bucks for either Liteshow or Nitelite. If you want to complete the set, you can get the Glow Rider Glider and Glow Stick Harvesting Tool for 500 V-bucks a pop. That puts the whole package at a reasonable 1,800 V-Bucks, which is less than the price of just a Legendary-tier skin minus the Harvesting Tool and Glider. That feels like a pretty good deal, as far as these things go.
The notion of value is, of course, a strange one in a world of virtual goods. What are these skins worth, when they offers no gameplay advantage other than looking cool? What is anything worth, when we are but mortal?
The answer is, of course, totally dependent on what these skins mean to you: is one of these skins worth approximately 800 V-bucks in enjoyment, and will you enjoy it when you play? Is it worth 1,000 more to get the matching glider and harvesting tool? If so, I say go for it. If we’re staying in the relative world of value established by Fortnite’s cosmetic shop, however, I’d argue that Liteshow and Nitelite each get you a skin easily as distinctive as some of the more expensive, epic-tier purchases for a whole lot fewer V-Bucks, even if there’s no back bling associated with it.
So if you’ve already entered into a world in which these virtual goods have real value — and why not, I’d say — then I’d say that these skins offer sweet cosmetic upgrades at a good price. And if you’re looking for a nice back bling to go with it, I’d say the Brite Backpack from the Brite Bomber skin really completes that club kid aesthetic.
